![\"Rich](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/rich-gannon-las-vegas-raiders.jpg\")
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(Photo by Cindy Ord\/Getty Images for SiriusXM)<\/p>\n
On April 2, the Las Vegas Raiders<\/a> secured veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins, who will likely be playing in front of Fernando Mendoza as the former Indiana Hoosiers<\/a> QB is expected to go No. 1 overall to the Silver and Black.<\/p>\n Cousins\u2019 agent confirmed the agreement, and ESPN\u2019s Adam Schefter reported<\/a> that $20 million of the 2026 contract is guaranteed. The deal also includes a two-year club option valued at $80 million, with a total potential worth of $172 million across five years.<\/p>\n With Las Vegas now having its veteran that can play in front of Mendoza and mentor him, former Raiders QB Rich Gannon shared his thoughts on the signing. <\/p>\n \u201cI think it makes a lot of sense, and I think you can look into it a number of different ways,\u201d Gannon said in an April 2 video from the New York Post<\/a>. \u201cHe\u2019s going to be the starter in Week\u202f1. I don\u2019t think we need to get that far. I just think bringing in a quality player and person like Kirk\u202fCousins is important. <\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s got, you know, 14\u202fyears of experience; he\u2019s got 167 starts under his belt. He\u2019s thrown for almost 45,000\u202fyards and almost 300\u00a0touchdowns [and] he\u2019s played well for a number of different organizations.\u201d<\/p>\n Fernando Mendoza Would Have Plenty to Learn From Kirk Cousins<\/p>\n Moreover, Gannon explained why Cousins is the perfect veteran to serve as a mentor to Mendoza, as the rookie QB would learn what it takes to succeed in the NFL<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cI think he\u2019s going to be a great asset to a young Fernando\u202fMendoza,\u201d Gannon added. \u201cHe\u2019s got history with Klint\u202fKubiak and the system. So I think it makes a lot of sense to bring him in. Whether or not he starts Week\u202f1, to me, is irrelevant at this point. I think both will play, but I just think Kirk\u202fCousins is the right person, the right person, a guy with great character and integrity and great leadership skills.<\/p>\n \u201cI think there are some similarities when you look at both players, but I think that quarterback room is off to a really good start when you look at those two. And I\u2019m assuming that we\u2019re going to draft Fernando\u202fMendoza. I was down there last week and had a great conversation with Klint\u202fKubiak. They are really excited about this 2026 season.\u201d<\/p>\n Mike Greenberg Applauds Raiders for Kirk Cousins Move<\/p>\n Last season with the Atlanta Falcons<\/a>, Cousins posted a 76.0 overall PFF grade<\/a>, placing him 14th among 43 qualified quarterbacks. His passing grade also landed at 75.0, ranking 14th at the position. <\/p>\n Over 289 dropbacks, he threw for 1,721 yards with 10 touchdowns and 5 interceptions, producing nine big-time throws while committing five turnover-worthy plays.<\/p>\n Furthermore, ESPN\u2019s Mike Greenberg is applauding the Raiders for not potentially throwing a rookie QB like Mendoza to the fire right from the start.<\/p>\n \u201cI love that now they\u2019re not forcing him to be the guy: Not just starting Week 1, but starting like July 15 or whatever day they all show up at training camp,\u201d Greenberg said on the April 2 edition of the \u201cPat McAfee Show.\u201d<\/a> \u201cYou don\u2019t want to have everything be on his shoulders, no matter how pro\u2011ready he is. And I think Fernando Mendoza is as pro\u2011ready as you can be for a rookie quarterback. <\/p>\n \u201cI have always believed that getting a veteran in there to mentor him is an outstanding move. Kirk Cousins is a perfect one. With the combination of Cousins and Tom Brady being in the organization, I don\u2019t know how much better Fernando Mendoza could have it than he has it right now.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tEduardo Razo<\/strong><\/a> Eduardo Razo is a sports writer for Heavy.com, covering the NFL, MLB, and college football. He has previously covered the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB for NBC Sports Washington and NBC Sports Bay Area & California, and has freelanced for PSG Talk, covering Paris Saint-Germain. He also worked as an editor at Athlon Sports, focusing on MLB and the NFL. More about Eduardo Razo<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Raiders\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty (Photo by Cindy Ord\/Getty Images for SiriusXM) On April 2, the Las Vegas Raiders secured veteran quarterback…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":701600,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[1318,1317,1315,1316,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-701599","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-ncaa","10":"tag-ncaa-football","11":"tag-ncaafootball","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116339910348129754","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/701599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=701599"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/701599\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/701600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=701599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=701599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=701599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}